Marty Carter sets record in GVSU win

DETROIT — The No. 7-ranked Grand Valley State football team claimed a 45-27 GLIAC road win at Wayne State Saturday night.

GVSU improved to 5-1 overall and 5-0 in GLIAC action.

The final margin was much closer than the actual dominance that Grand Valley State showed through three quarters of action. The Lakers scored 24 second quarter points and opened the second half with back-to-back touchdowns to build a 45-7 lead. The Lakers cleared its roster of players that made the trip and cruised to the win.

"That was a dominant GLIAC road win and we were able to get everyone that made the trip a lot of snaps," said GVSU coach Matt Mitchell.

Wayne State dominated the time of possession in the opening quarter, holding the ball for 12:45, however, in the long run it meant very little. The Warriors were forced to punt and the snap sailed over the head of the punter and GVSU took over on the WSU 9-yard line. Junior running back Marty Carter scored on a cutback 5-yard TD run on the second play with 12 ticks left in the first quarter and the scoring barrage was on.

The Laker defense began to warm up and forced a punt that senior receiver Brandon Bean returned 51 yards to the WSU 38-yard line. Junior quarterback Bart Williams hit junior receiver Nick Dodson with a 29 yard TD pass on the second play again and Avery Echols (Zeeland) added his second extra point for a 14-0 GVSU lead.

Wayne State downed a punt at the GVSU three yard line with 9:50 left in the second quarter and was looking to get back in the game, but on the first play from scrimmage Carter raced 97 yards for a touchdown and GVSU led 21-0. The run was the longest in GVSU football history and tied the GLIAC record for longest TD run in league history.

Carter went 68 yards for his third rushing TD of the night and in the process he tied former Laker great Michael Tennessee for second in all-time rushing yards with 3,515. James Berezik is the all-time leader with 3,630 yards. Echols' extra point gave GVSU a 45-7 lead.

Carter rushed for 218 yards and three TDs on 11 carries, while Williams connected on 10-of-13 passes for 142 yards and three TDs. Schlosser led the defense with 13 tackles.